Quite whether everyone will share the thoughts of one resident who described it as ‘a dream come true’ but fast food chain Nando’s does appear to be ready for a move into Ely.

The company placed an advertisement three days ago for a first assistant manager for ‘Nando’s-Ely new opening’ prompting speculation that the company will take the remaining unit at the city’s new leisure park.

“As a first assistant manager at Nando’s, you’ll work alongside your general manager to create a great working environment to enable all team members to enjoy their work and be the best they can be,” says the advertisement.

Apart from a decent pay package, the successful applicant can enjoy benefits such as ‘assistant conferences’ in places such as South Africa and Brazil and becoming part of the ‘Nandocas family’ that offers an annual fun day.

Should Nando’s does move onto the leisure park it will create stiff competition for other outlets that include Frankie and Benny’s, a Greene King pub, Arbuckles, KFC, Costa, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s.

If Nando’s do confirm the opening the local Facebook page ‘Spotted in Ely’ will have cause to smile.

On April 1 they posted a spoof article claiming Nando’s was going to open at the leisure park and their hoax post reached 18,000 people, was shared hundreds of time and enjoyed massive response.

Those running the Facebook page are now wondering if their spoof post may have alerted Nando’s to the potential of Ely and paved the way for the restaurant chain to come here.

Nando’s are expected to comment on Monday about the Ely vacancy – if the chain does come to the city it will add to the 1,000 or more outlets it now runs in 35 countries since it was founded in South Africa nearly 30 years ago.